


Armin's Guide: How To Befriend & Fall In Love With A Titan

by MikaelaJaeger, ResonanceLove



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: (I guess?) - Freeform, ;(, Crack, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Human/Titan Relationships, M/M, Poor Armin Arlert, Sexuality Crisis, Size Difference, Size Kink, Slow Burn, Spoilers for Season 2, Titan Eren Yeager, Titan Shifter Eren Yeager, Trust Issues, Undeveloped Mind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-01-25 10:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12529280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikaelaJaeger/pseuds/MikaelaJaeger, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ResonanceLove/pseuds/ResonanceLove
Summary: Armin strays from the rest of Levi Squad in panic during a mission outside the walls. After losing his horse in the middle of the frenzied battle, he is left helpless with only three blades left and very little gas to fuel. While Armin wanders pointlessly lost in the thick forest he meets a very strange but fascinating Titan who seemed intent on protecting him and...trading friendship?





	1. Lost And Found

"Great job Armin! You lost your horse, squad, supplies and now you're stuck in a thick forest terrain with no food or water and running out of gas."   
The blonde muttered to himself, regretting separating himself from the rest of the Levi squad during the heat of the frenzied battle. Armin kicked a small pebble in frustration and sat down, leaning against the trunk of one of the large pine trees. Armin picked absentmindedly at the blades of grass around him as he assessed his situation.

"Right, I'm alone and lost in a forest. I'm isolated so that must mean that my scent is less intense and titans are less likely to seek me out on purpose. Plus this is a forest! Maybe I can find some animals or berries?"

Armin thought aloud to himself. He felt a little more confident about his situation after going over the positives, but he was not stupid enough to let himself get cocky. One wrong move and he's dead meat.

The blonde teen spent the rest of the afternoon purposefully hiking around the forest, looking for things that could become of use. Eventually, he had found a hollowed out tree trunk and decided that in the worst case scenario a titan knocks the tree down and he's crushed to death, but hyperthermia didn't sound much better either so Armin took his chances and checked the hollow trunk for spiders and other insects, before making himself at home with a somewhat soft leaflet bed and an almost-positive attitude.

After removing his blades box and gas tank from his girdle (but keeping his straps on in case of an emergency) he attempted to make himself comfortable on the padded leaf 'bed' -but it was troublesome when he feared to be dragged out from the trunk by two massive fingers. Armin knew the thought was irrational, 'Titans didn't come out after dark' everyone knew that!

Shivering, Armin wrapped his arms around himself and curled inwards as a last-ditch effort to keep warm. The whole night was a living hell on earth, Armin was almost grateful when he was shaken awake by the ground vibrating roughly and a deep thudding sound that had traumatised his mind for years since Shiganshina. What a way to wake up in the morning.

Immediately the blonde shot up alert and wasted no second dwelling on his impending doom. Mikasa isn't here to pull you out the mouth of a Titan this time Armin, you've got to do this on your own. He thinks grimly but determinedly. Armin's face scrunched into a grimace as he finishes buckling both gas tanks and blade holders, ignoring the shiver of terror that ran down his spine as the footsteps advanced nearer and nearer...until they stopped, right outside his hiding spot.

Armin could spot the giants two large tanned feet stop in place. No way..it had to be at least fifteen meters tall...

'First I'll run then when I get close enough to a higher tree then I'll resort to using my gas, I have to preserve what little I have left.' 

Silently cheering himself on, Armin made a break for it, narrowly but swiftly turning a right as he lapsed around the hollow tree that had been his refuge and ran straight ahead. It wasn't long before he heard Titan growl softly before it's interested mind attracted towards his retreating figure. Soon enough, the vibrating thudding returned; this time at a more urgent, fast-paced and drawing closer. The blonde fought back tears of tear and powered forward. 

Just as he was about to shoot a line for the upcoming tree, the familiar sensation being lifted by the collar of his jacket sent a shrill of terror throughout his body. Armin felt his whole body freeze- locked in place as he was lifted to meet the vacant green eyes of the tall beast. Suddenly, a noise that could be only described as a low purr bubbled up from the tanned Titans throat. The noise drew a short frightened gasp from Armin as he quivered in the Titans hold, he could taste the salty wetness of tears roll from his cheeks and to the edges of his mouth as he cried silently. 

'W-What's it d-doing...I-Isn't it g-going to eat m-me? M-Maybe it likes to p-play with its prey b-before...' 

Armin cut himself off, not wanting to imagine his seemingly inevitable fate. The poor blonde was so deeply lost in his thoughts, he hardly noticed his body being slowly lowered into an open palm until he felt the warm heat of the skin meet his own through the shredded cracks of his issued white trousers. The sudden new sensation snapped him out of his fearful dream state as he gawked up at the Titan who looked down on at him curiously and expectantly. Armin reached a shaky arm up to meet his face as he wiped away tears from his puffy blue eyes.

'what exactly--does..does it want me to talk...?'

"U-Um..do-can you understand me..?" 

Armin spoke slowly, voice shaky and scratchy from lack of hydration and weeping. He felt ridiculous, trying to talk to a Titan, but by now if this is what it necessitated to survive, he'd do it. 

The titan stared point blankly at him and blinked, (he's never seen at Titan blink before but he assumed that what it was) before an approving rumbling noise floated up from the beast's throat and into Armin's awaiting ears. 

"I-what-..you can? uh, um..okay..can you please maybe..put me d-down..?" Armin asked nervously, but in his mind, he was dumbstruck- a titan that can comprehend the German language? 

The Titans black pupils seemed to narrow and slit at the suggestion and the Titan growled lowly, warningly, obviously upset at the suggestion, but gently lowered Armin (to the blonde's relief) until the other boy's feet lightly met with the forest floor. Running away or using his gear would be the most logical option but Armin's curious, scientist mind argued and against his inner wishes and came out dominate. The Titan seemed happy with his obedience as it let out a happy coo before plunking itself onto the ground with a thud. 'Okay..making progress..maybe I should see if it has a name or maybe a gender..?' Armin thought, inwardly flinching at how easily he got used to the presence of the giant beast. 

"So..um..do you have a..name?" 

The Titan huffed, a puff of steam escaping its mouth as it did. The beast rose it's left pointer finger and dragged it along the dirt and dust, slowly tracing out shaky letters. Armin blinked, frozen in surprise before he glanced down at the large letters that engraved the soil. 

The smart boy could recognise the first letters as a very badly written 'E R E-' but the last letter looked like a hybrid between 'H' and 'Z'. The titan sat up straight, it looked sort of like a puppy dog, eyes eager and waiting for praise. 

Armin furrowed his eyebrows as he worked through possible names before settling on a German-Turkish based one, Eren. 

"Eren..?Um..My name's Armin." The blonde gave a small nervous smile, it was hard to not get overexcited, but he had just found a titan that could communicate with him! Hanji would be so ecstatic. The Titan--Eren purred happily cheekbones lifting into what could be considered a version of a smile but instead kind of just looked like a grimace. 

 

Armin had a feeling that his abandonment in this forest may not be so lonely after all. 

 

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Making & Improving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FRIENDSHIP DEVELOPMENT  
> (this is just pure fluff)

The more Armin speaks to Eren, the more vocal the titan gets. Sure, he'd witnessed Eren rampaging and screaming after an abnormal came to close to killing him, but that was different. It was different from the times where Armin and Eren would 'converse.' The blonde boy had been mentally taking notes on which of Eren's sounds connect with what meaning. Sometimes communicating with Eren was frustrating and sometimes it was a curious type of fun. Although today seemed to be the latter.

"Eren, pick up the sticks," Armin lifted a long pointy stick in his hand to demonstrate and then dropped the stick on to small heap wood. "and drop them here."

Eren produced a confused gurgling sound, tilting his head curiously as he worked to figure out what the noises Armin had just made indicated. The blonde waited patiently by the stick pile, contemplating whether he should demonstrate what he meant again but he was driven out of his philosophies when he heard a particularly loud snap, thud and quite suddenly there was a rather large tree branch sitting in front of the tips of his booted feet. Armin lifted his gaze from the branch and to the titan who was undoubtedly responsible for bringing it to him.

Eren chirruped down at Armin in a slightly higher pitch than usual as he looked at Armin desperately for approval and the latter quickly realised that Eren wanted to be praised. (He really was like an overgrown puppy.)

"You did a good job, Eren." Armin smiled, using an affectionate tone of voice. Although Eren didn't understand many words yet, he did understand resonance and tone. Eren cooed happily, looking considerably proud of himself.

The two kept working together and slowly formed a small system, Eren would gather the sticks and place them all in a pile- each time looking quite impressed with his workmanship. Meanwhile, Armin would use the sticks to create tools and other useful necessities. He used the straps from his uniform since they weren't much use for anything else, and took apart one of his three and a half persisting blades to create a basic but moderately sturdy pocket knife.

Sometimes while Armin crafted away, Eren would settle himself across from the other boy and curiously observe what the nimble fingers of the other could achieve. After some time, Eren tried to replicate what Armin was doing and his careful movements but soon gave up after the third stick snapped in half under his strength.

Eren whined loudly, the titan was bored wanted Armin's attention. The blonde hesitantly looked up from his creations and raised an eyebrow at the titan.

"Eren? What do you want?"

Eren stared at him with pleading eyes that basically screamed: 'pay attention to me!' The titan whined again, this one sounding more begging and childish.

"Alright Eren I hear you, It's probably time we should get going anyway." 

-2 Week Later-

Armin has lost a sense of time and date since the fated titan attack that separated him from his squad. So far Armin had made great progress with the intelligent titan- 'Eren'. Usitilitisng the Titan's abilities, Armin had made a small but sturdy wooden platform on a high thick tree branch. Eren would carefully lift Armin up in the base of his palm to the platform (that was out of reach by most of the common titans) and help pass up any materials that Armin would need. The blonde was also slowly picking up on what sound meant what whenever he and Eren held a somewhat coherent conversation. Armin learnt and memorised what made Eren happy -being praised, pet and given attention; he was like a puppy! - angry; whenever he tried to complete a task but failed and especially whenever Armin went somewhere without him knowing. and sad; when Armin won't give him any attention and when he cannot complete an intellectual challenge. 

The blonde wanted to explore the titan's emotions and subconscious but he had to tread carefully, the last thing he wanted was to accidentally anger the beast.

It amazed Armin how he'd made friends with one of the man-eating beasts he was trained to hunt, but it felt like he was betraying humanity, his friends but most importantly, Mikasa.

Whenever Armin got into one of his gloomy moods, Eren would try his best to cheer him up. Whether it be bringing slightly crushed but still colourful flowers to the depressed blonde or finding a bush with his favourite sweet fruits. (But Eren's fingers are too large to pick the berries individually, so whenever he finds a berry bush he'll just rip it out of the ground and carry it to the foot of Armin's tree.)

The first time Eren had attempted to cheer Armin up it had amazed the blonde, up until now he'd just assumed that the titan didn't really care for him and was just curious enough to entertain Armin's ideas.Just to prod at him like a bug under a microscope. But he was proved wrong everytime the titan expressed some kind of emotion - which in itself was astonishing. Armin almost felt like he was talking to a human hidden in titans skin, the thought intrigued him and pushed him to learn more about Eren's behaviourisms.

But today was one of Armin's moody days. The teen was reminiscing on childhood memories he had with his adopted sister, Mikasa, after a particularly nasty dream that had put him in a sour mood since bed rise. Eren apparently decided he'd had enough of his moping around and made a clever point of getting Armin to climb onto his hand so the titan can take him somewhere. At first, Armin had been nervous, quietly contemplating if the titan was bored of him and had finally decided to devour him, but then the blonde chastised himself at the thought, 'If Eren wanted to kill me he would've done days ago.' he thinks. But a small dark shadow in the back of his head whispers that it's not entirely impossible.

Eren isn't very careful where he steps, his movements are reckless but purposeful. Armin doesn't know where Eren's leading them and when he glances up at the titan's head to ask, he's stunned silent by the firey determination lighting up the giant's green eyes. It was so beautiful, so inspiring, so.. _human_...

 

Eren gave a small high whine to snap the blonde out of his trance, it was only then that Armin noticed the titan had stopped walking. Reluctantly, Armin tore his gaze away from the giant's face and to the environment around them.

Blue eyes were graced with the sight of a large open field with surprisingly short grass -a contradiction to the forests messy unkept land. Petite bushes and trees dotted the outer ring of the field. The land was speckled with little baby blue and plush pink Forget me nots. Armin stared in awe of the field, this was the kind of view he only ever got to witness in his fairy tale books he read as a child. Maybe, now that he was free to make his own choices, he could finally visit the ocean- 'No', Armin thought, 'not without Mikasa.'

Armin turned to Eren, blue eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed pink with excitement and smile spread wide. The other looking at Armin desperately for approval.

"Thank you for taking me here, Eren" he spoke softly with admiration, rubbing the tanned skin of Eren's palm underneath him with affection. Eren chirruped happily at the praise, obviously pleased with himself.

"Can you please let me down Eren..?" Armin asked eyes lighting up with excitement, Eren's chirrups dropped into a low confused grumbling. Why should Armin want to be away from him? Armin quickly realised his mistake and made swift work of correcting himself,

"You can come with me if you want.." The blonde boy suggested, calmingly rubbing circles into the knuckle of Eren's thumb to soothe his ruffled feathers. Burbling with noise that doesn't sound aggressive (but more affectionate if anything) Eren thoughtfully kneels on the ground, narrowly missing plants and flowers on purpose. As soon as the back of Eren's palm lightly brushes the grassy forest floor, Armin doesn't waste time dawdling and promptly hops over the edge of the large hand. The blonde runs into the flowery field bursting with happiness. Eren watches onwards as Armin gently squats down to observe one of the little blue Forget me not flowers. 

"Eren! Come look at these! Mikasa and I used to make flower crowns with these!" 

Armin's voice chimes like bells; calling his name. Eren happily goes to the blonde, tittering and chirping merrily as he shuffles towards his human friend. 

Armin laughs, the sound is warm and comforting as Armin delicately hooks a flower crown assorted of Blue and Pink petals to the tip of Eren's nose. The blonde giggles cutely as the titan's green eyes went cross-eyed. Eren purrs happily, eyes smiling and gleaming. Armin flashed a wide smile up at the titan, but his happy expression didn't last too long. 

"Hey, Eren..?" Armin moved to lean up against Eren's torso, their bodies fitting like two puzzle pieces; back to chest with his legs spread out straight in front of him. Eren cooed softly and relaxed his body into a slump, the flower crown breaking apart and slipping from the tip of his nose, fluttering blue and pink petals onto Armin. 

"Do you think, that they left me here on purpose..?" Armin whispered, voice quiet and breezy like the wind. A beginning of a frown creasing itself on Armin's soft features. Eren's soft, loving cooes dropped into a lowly grow at the suggestion it had no malice towards Armin, but rather the humans that had left Armin here, alone and in a dark and dangerous titan infested forest. Eren huffed and gently nudged Armin with his chest causing the other to giggle lightly.

"You're right Eren, I shouldn't think about it too much."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to start introducing new plot points soon, this is just a little warm up before that.  
> FUN FACT: This used to be two separate chapters but I merged them together.  
> Anyways I hope you enjoyed, Constructive criticism is appreciated (Comments, in general, are appreciated!) <3


	3. Grievance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikasa isn't doing too well.  
> [Vomit/light gore warning]

"But we have to go back for him!" 

"What? And risk the lives of many valuable soldiers just for one?"

"Armin is worth a whole fucking army! His smarts have saved us more times then you can count!"

 

Mikasa's and Levi's voices rang throughout the mess hall.  
They'd been arguing like this ever since the Levi squad returned without Armin. And frankly, everyone was getting sick of it. Mikasa looked uncharacteristically exhausted, deep purple bags shadowing her grey eyes, fine black hair was tousled and tangled, and her clothes were awfully creased. It was a scary comparison to the customarily pristine perfect Mikasa Ackerman.

Levi, however, was just the same as he's ever been; short and angry.

"Listen..Ackerman.. I think you and I both know that the survival rates of lasting outside the wall for longer than three days are about 2O%. Its pointless, Arlert has probably already died."

 

Mikasa growled lowly but even she knew inwardly that if they were to go find Armin, they'd most likely be dragging back a brown, bug infested, rotting corpse. That wasn't how she wanted to remember her best friend. But Armin merited a proper funeral and it was her job to at least give him that.  
Mikasa wanted to have him cremated and his ashes spread across the ocean, blowing away in the salty sea breeze. It was a morbid thought, but it's the funeral that Armin deserved.

Mikasa ignored the stares of her comrades as she stormed off towards the training grounds. She felt furious. Furious at herself for letting Armin join the survey corps and practically sign his life away. She was furious because there wasn't anything she could do.

Helpless..

Helpless...

Helpless!

Her ears rang as the sounds of screams she recognised as her own cut through the night's cool silence. Mikasa didn't realise she was crying until the warm tears leaked into her mouth and tanged her tongue, leaving a bitter taste in their wake. Her chest hurt like someone was pulling her heart in two different directions at once.

Her only family was probably dead, decaying away on the dirty ground. Covered in muck and filth, his limbs missing- leaving only a fleshy stub with bits of white bone jutting out. Blue, blue eyes lifeless and dull. Dried blood worrying his pale skin like a violent painting. 

Mikasa's body lurched over as the contents of her stomach came rushing out of her mouth. Bile stuck to the roof of her mouth as the rest painted the ground with an ugly splat. Her arms wrapped tightly around her gut as she stared blankly down at her feet. 

The black haired girl jumped when she felt a gentle hand rub her back soothingly. 

"Mikasa..."

The voice was soft like cotton, dainty and feminine. Her desperate mind recognised it at Armin at first but she knew better than that. 

"Sasha..just-just leave me alone," Mikasa murmured dejectedly. 

The brunette only hummed sadly before grabbing Mikasa's limp hand and gently tugging her away from her mess. The black haired girl was too exhausted to pull back, so she let Sasha sit her down in the small patch of soft grass.

"..Why did you bring me here?" Mikasa whispered, voice as gentle as the nightly breeze. 

Sasha didn't answer and instead leaned Mikasa's head in her lap so she was laying more comfortably, before gently running her dainty fingers through messy black hair. Too tired to fight back, Mikasa quietly (albeit grudgingly) accepted the soft touch. Comfort is what she needed and without Armin here to provide she felt isolated. 

"We've all lost someone in this war.. but we have to stay strong 'n live well for 'em." 

Sasha spoke wistfully, her dialect was slightly draining into her words. Sasha had lost Connie, they were immensely close. Mikasa heard that Sasha had watched Connie being slowly ripped in half, his blood and guts pouring onto the red stained grass in front of her. 

It was admirable how well Sasha carried herself even after that. But everyone knew that even she still cried behind closed doors. 

The weight of Armin's death settled on her shoulders, heavy like an anchor. Dragging her under the surface as water filled her lungs and suffocated her. 

"Armin is.. Armin is in a better place now. He doesn't have to suffer in this cruddy world anymore. He can spread his wings and fly free." 

Mikasa hoped that Sasha was right, that Armin was finally free. 

She didn't want to pull down an angel from amongst the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY MIKASA  
> sorry for the short chapter, been busy with loads of assessments


	4. Taken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armin finds out about the truth

"Eren, we're lost aren't we?" 

 _"Arrph,"_ Erenhuffed grudgingly from underneath him. Armin inwardly rolled his eyes at Eren's stubbornness. He was standing on the titan's shoulder, clutching one of the Titan's dark chocolate brown locks so he wouldn't slip off. Eren stopped and looked around, the whole area seemed unfamiliar to Armin and judging by the disoriented look in Eren's green eyes he could tell he thought the same. 

Eren gently nudged Armin with his cheek as if to ask ' _what now_?'

"Well..if we keep going in a straight line we'll end up somewhere eventually, right?" 

Armin _swore_ he saw Eren roll his eyes at him. 

"Look, you got a better idea?" 

Eren shrugged, startling the small blonde perched on his shoulder- Armin held onto a lock of dark brown hair for dear life. They started walking again, the forest was silent- not even the birds were chirping. The only sounds were the rustling of the tree's leaves and the heavy thuds of Eren's steps.  

Suddenly, in the corner of Armin's blue eyes, he spotted a fast whisp of jaded blonde hair followed by the familiar whirr of the 3D manoeuvre gear. Armin tensed, eyes darting around the forest. The blonde discreetly leaned closer to the titan's face and whispered  in Eren's pointy ear, 

"Did you just hear that? It sounded like the 3DM gear?" 

Eren froze his movements, glancing at Armin through the corner of his eye. The titan gave a dubious grunt, puffs of steam blowing out of his nose. The air was still as they stilled and listened out for the noise again. The whirr did repeat although this time it sounded tripled like there wasn't just one person anymore. Armin- fearing for his titan friends life- shouted at him to start running and to get to clearer ground, where the forest breaks into clear green fields.  

The whirr did reiterate although this time it sounded amplified, like there wasn't just one person anymore. Armin- fearing for his Titan friend's life- shouted at him to start running and to get to clearer ground, where the forest breaks into clear green fields.  

"Their 3D gear won't be as useful out in the open!" 

Eren nodded, hair bouncing with the bob of his head. He carefully brought Armin into his palms and cupped him safely between his hands. But not forgetting to leave a small crack separating his fingers to let oxygen through to his small blonde friend. The Titan started running, his hard thuds echoing through the forest as Eren sprinted for the forest line. The sound of the 3DM gear tailgated them, Armin couldn't see much from his bundled up position in Eren's cupped palms. He didn't know who might've been following them. Surely if it were Levi or Mikasa they'd say something..right?  

"Come on Eren! It's just ahead! We can make it!" Armin cheered as the end of the forest became more apparent. Eren roared loudly his movements speeding up as he raced, determination lining his every step.  

_"Annie now!"_

Before Armin could comprehend what was happening, he was suddenly falling out of Eren's no-longer cupped hands. Steam from Eren's cut open fingers floated up into the sky. The blonde screeched as he watched the hard dirt ground below him grow closer and closer. Armin tightly squeezed his eyes shut waiting for the harsh burn of all his bones shattering at once.

-But instead of meeting face first on the ground, he found himself being caught and held tightly in the arms of the mysterious blonde haired girl he must've seen before, her icy cold blue eyes glowered at him as she made her smooth landing to the forest floor. 

"Wh-who are you?" 

She ignored him, and instead pulled a pair of metal handcuffs out of her back pocket and wrestled the panicked blonde to the ground. The cold blue-eyed girl harshly bent Armin's arms backwards and cuffed his wrists together behind his back, rendering his arms and hands useless. Armin couldn't focus on anything, a million thoughts-possibilities- were racing through his mind.

This had to be a misunderstanding right? What would they want with him? 

A loud noise broke Armin out of his trance, he turned his head to the side and watched with wide terrified blue eyes as a brawny blonde male cut the nape of his titan friend. The blonde felt tears escape his eyes,

crying over a _titan_? how stupid of him.

The dirty ground becoming a darker shade of brown, wet from his warm tears as Armin adverted his gaze from the crime scene.

"Stop crying. He's not dead idiot." 

Armin yelped as the girl roughly grasped his hair and lifted his head up by his blonde locks, skinning his chin on the rough dirt and forcing him to face the dead titan's disintegrating body. As his eyes met with the nape of the Titan, Armin abruptly had the urge to scream, cry and throw up all at once. He stared, doe-eyed and bewildered as the blonde male pulled out an exhausted, but still-struggling brunette from the Titan's smouldering skin.

"Annie, I've got Eren and I see you've got the boy. Should've just let him die, now we have extra work."

"No, we can use him as leverage against-" 

 

Armin couldn't think, he couldn't believe it. As scarcely familiar green eyes met his own blue ones, he gasped. The blonde stared fixated at the brunette who was screaming his name on repeat like it was the only word he knew, the sounds of their captors conversing became background noise. 

'How could it be? The titan he was friends with was a human all this time?'

His head was aching and he felt like his brain was coming out of his skull. His vision was blurring, first around the edges before creeping further.

'E-Eren..?' he whispered, before letting his head rest on the hard ground as blackness overcame everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH GOD THIS IS SO SHITTY AND RUSHED FORGIVE ME IM SO UNSATISFIED WITH THIS CHAPTER  
> I'll probably edit it later when i have more time but just take this shitty chapter for now.


	5. cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cuddlez

When Armin wakes, he doesn't have the energy to crack open his eyelids. Although he can't see, he is painfully aware of how hard and cool the concrete floor beneath him is. He feels like his head is splitting in half with an agonising headache that makes him want to bash his forehead into a wall. 

Armin stiffens as an abnormally warm body curls closer around him. Legs tangling with his own and a gentle, heated, hand intertwining with his own crisp cold one.  

"A..Armin..?" A gentle tired voice whispers into his ear, sending shivers down his spine. The blonde finally blinks his blue orbs open, eyes stinging with sleep. Armin turned under the arm that's wrapped around his body to face the mysterious person. A soft gasp escapes his lips as he realises who is the one clinging to him.  

"E-Eren.. is that really you? Are you really a human?!" 

Armin mumbles, staring shocked into tiredly half-lidded green eyes. Armin notices the trails of steaming thin titan skin trailing down his tanned cheeks. The other boy blinks slowly, frowning, before lifting them both up from their position on the concrete floor.

Suddenly, Armin realised how cold it really was without Eren's abnormal warmth beating away the hyperthermia. Armin takes the time to notice that they were currently locked away in an open bar cell. The blonde stares deep into the hall outside their cell bars as if something would happen, his gaze only shifting when a soft hand gently turned his face back to meet Erens. Armin watches on curiously as the other furrows his eyebrows and opens his mouth to speak.

"Am..Eren... am human half Titan," Eren paused, shoulders stiffing as he hesitantly moved his hand from the blondes cheek,  "Armin not scared?" His words are sloppily mashed together (but not without thought) like a child learning to talk.

Eren spoke slowly and carefully, obviously having trouble to find the words he wanted to use. He spoke in natural fluent German, unlike Armin who was born and raised in English before learning other languages. Green eyes stared at him worriedly as if the brunette was preparing himself for rejection. 

"No, I'm not scared. I'm just..suprised." Armin offered Eren a small smile, which the brunette returned albeit slightly shakey. Their ardent moment was cut short by the sounds of boots slapping the concrete reverberating down the hallway. Quickly, Eren's smiling face morphed into a look of alarm before he gently but abruptly knocked Armin down to the floor with him again. Curling his body around the blonde once more, back-to-chest. Armin was grateful for the body heat.

"Armin. Armin rest, don't worry.. they will not bother when we asleep."  The brunette mutters against Armin's blonde hair. The other boy slightly nods before closing his eyes and attempting to sleep. Although he was anything but relaxed, his heartbeat was picking up with every step their mysterious captors took. The noises of their boots hitting the cement floor sounded like a clock ticking down to the time of his death.

The footsteps coming closer and closer before they stopped right outside their cell bars. Armin felt his body stiffen no matter how hard he tried to relax. Even when Eren discreetly started rubbed soothing circles on his back with his hand that was pressed between their bodies. Judging mumbles spilt from their cold lips. He could feel their eyes boring into their "sleeping" forms. Armin strained his ears to listen into their conversation but could only pick up bits and pieces from their hushed voices.

"...no...knows...our side... _Eren_.." 

Armin bit back a shocked gasp, white teeth digging into his plump bottom lip. His body slightly flinched under Eren's warm hold. 

_'Eren? Does he know these people? Can I still trust him..?'_

Armin's head was pounding with his growing stress. He suddenly felt the need to get out of Eren's overly friendly arms. Armin couldn't breathe. He felt like he was drowning with bricks tied to his feet and rocks in his pockets. Without thinking, Armin shoves away Eren's arms and swiftly pushes out of his hold, moving to sit against the cement wall instead. His mind doesn't register the cold stares from his captives he was receiving or how afraid he felt. Distantly, he hears Eren confusedly mumble his name.

Armin doesn't respond, instead, he quietly draws his knees to his chest and hid his face in folded Arms. The blonde felt his eyes stinging as if needing to cry but found himself too exhausted too. So he just sat there, he ignored the sound of a bread roll hitting the floor, he ignored Eren's attempts to open his mouth and feed him the stale bread roll that the blonde had refused to feed himself. He felt like he was shutting down. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter cause school takes over free time and im a very shitty writer  
> ALSO THANKS FOR ALL THE KUDOS AND COMMENTS  
> THEY REALLY INSPIRE ME TO WRITE MORE <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW 70 KUDOS THANK YOU SO MUCH <33  
> sorry I've been gone so long, school finally wrapped up for this year  
> so I should be able to update more often.   
> Also thanks to my friend RL for helping me plan and write the future for this   
> story

Armin had lost all concept of time. Was it day? night? he couldn't tell anymore. The flittering of the constant torch burned his eyes and melted his vision to blurs. Almost every ten or so hours (not that Armin could really decipher), Eren would be forcefully handcuffed taken from their shared cell. The incessant screams and cries normally started up after that.

Then when Eren returned, Armin would wordlessly motion him over and treat any wounds he may have, even though Eren's titan powers helped him to regenerate considerably fast. It helped lower Armins guilt of being the one who had trapped Eren in this position. While it wasn't directly his fault, he knew that their kidnappers were using him as leverage against Eren. If Eren didn't do exactly what they wanted, they would harshly whip his bare back until it was bruised and bleeding and Eren would be forced to watch, screaming protests around a muffled, bloodied gag. Armin felt it was his fault that Eren had to endure the horrid things they must have been doing to him. 

Things must have been worst this time, Armin bitterly mused as Eren was harshly shoved into their shared cell, causing him to fall to his hands and knees. He smelt like pure iron blood and sweat. His fingertips were bloodied and his neck had a fierce rope burn wrapped all the way around. 

"Maybe next time you won't be moronic enough to lie to us, Eren." 

Eren didn't regard their words and instead growled viciously at the girl. He sounded like a dying animal cornered, fighting back at it's strongest point. The girl who had brought Eren back to their cell didn't say anything, her eyes remained icy cold as she clashed her red stained batton against the metal bars. Slight dents appearing in its wake.  

"Shut up, feral mutt." She spat on the ground before turning and stiffly walking away, blooded wooden bat swinging in her grip. 

Their ritual began as soon as they locked eyes. Before Armin could even wave his hand to motion him over, Eren was crawling towards him like he already knew what to expect. Something told Armin that Eren enjoyed this part more then he should. But the blonde would be lying to himself if this wasn't comforting to him as well. Wordlessly, Armin gently took Eren's limp hand in his to examine his damaged fingers. The damage was born from obvious struggle and with the angry red rope marks around Eren's neck, it wasn't hard to imagine what they did to him.

A small whimper bubbled up in Armin's throat, it was probably the first noise he had made in god knows how long. Carefully, Armin brought the slightly steaming hand to his lips and lightly brushed a kiss to each of his fingertips. It was intimate, maybe _too_ intimate. But they were locked away in a dark musty cell with only the company of each other. Anyone would go crazy- being deprived of comfort and communication. Humans are social creatures, after all, there's only so much a person can take. Eren whined, sad and desperate eyes never leaving Armin's face. Begging him to talk, to say something-anything. It had been so long since he had heard a kind voice after they were taken here.

"W..What did they want?" Armin whispered, his voice was scratchy from neglect and even whispering made his throat burn with dehydration. Eren smiled sorrowfully, obviously glad that Armin finally spoke but the question couldn't help but bring down the already melancholy mood.   

"Wanted to know..wanted to know where father.." Eren's voice trailed off and his brown eyebrows furrowed in frustrated thought, the boy was having trouble finding the right words. After being in a titan body for so long, language and discourse just became.. unnecessary. Being able to understand a language is one thing, but having the ability to replicate it is another. 

"..Did they want to know where your father is?" Armin guessed. Eren shook his head 'no' and Armin's eyebrows scrunched, confused. Eren tried once again to vocalise what he was thinking but no avail. Each time he tried to speak, his already messy dialect became mushed together with dislodged grunts and chortles- exactly like how he sounded in his titan form. 

Witnessing this, the worried blonde began smoothly ran his hand up and down along Eren's arm reassuringly- as the other was only getting more and more exasperated with himself.  

"Want-Wanted fathers k-key.." Eren managed to weasel out after a few more tries at narrowing down the pronunciation. Armin smiled sadly with pursed lips and lightly rubbed Eren's back in comfort. Armin wasn't sure how they were going to escape this dark hell with a language barrier as big as this between him and Eren. 

He'd already tried to imagine different possible escape routes but to no avail. If Eren were to shift while they were presumedly underground, Armin would be crushed by slabs of concrete and wood. Going up against _three_ titan-shifters unarmed may be their only chance at freedom, Armin dreaded the thought but they had no other choice. 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any mistakes as this story is unbeta-ed :)  
> Hope this first chapter was interesting  
> Comments and feedback/constructive criticism is highly appreciated <3  
> See ya next chapter lovelies


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